Disclaimer: I do not own SRMT. Nor do I own Reminder, by Usami, which is what this is based off of.

Blackened Hearts

Why did he not just kill the boy? It was a question he knew his followers had thought consistently. He knew that they had questioned it, knew that they wanted answers. He had so many opportunities to do so; so many chances where he could have used his dark powers and slain him. They wondered the same about the monkeys; about the planet. He had so many opportunities to take over; his powers were beyond what flimsy things he had tossed at the Hyper Force in the past.

In the beginning, it was the scientific curiosity that had lingered, despite the darkened state of his soul. Albeit, it was twisted to a new, darker sort of curiosity... but it still remained. He had wanted to know what his monkeys were capable of. What could they do? It was during the time of Mandarin that he had sent monsters and spells their way, watching as they found new, creative ways to solve his problems. He watched as they matured, as they fought, all the while gaining glee from the knowledge that he had created this. At the same time, he built himself a nice little challenge.

Once he had finished testing them, finished creating his challenge for the future, Skeleton King turned his eyes to new prospects. He found new planets to visit, to create chaos and destruction, but Shuggazoom always niggled in the back of his mind. His thoughts constantly drifted towards the little pink planet, towards the city at the top of the world. This place had always nagged at him, always demanded his attention far more than he liked.

What really irked him was that these thoughts were always of memories he had when he was still the Alchemist... when he was still a human. He could remember sunny days. He remembered multicolored fur balls playing around him as he worked. He remembered peaceful walks through the woods. He remembered sunlight shining through the green...

He could remember it all. There were bits and pieces that were unclear – designs of things he knew would further him in his quest for conquest, information about the simians... It was the last bits of goodness in the Alchemist that kept it hidden from him. The last pieces of light that shielded away the memories. It was frustrating.

It was all of these thoughts that brought him back to the little planet. What good was he if he could focus on nothing but a meaningless past? A past that meant nothing to him any longer. He was no longer a weak, foolish mortal man. He was a vessel; a channeling point for one of the most powerful Dark Ones in existence. He had to find a way to move on; a way to destroy these little niggling thoughts. The thoughts that would not leave him to enjoy his destruction in peace. They were bugging him, invading his consciousness all day and night.

They needed to be stopped.

He fell back on his usual methods; destroy the source of the problem. To destroy Shuggazoom City, to make the remaining citizens his slaves would be pleasant. It would bring him immense joy to render the destruction of all the light and happiness they possessed. In addition, he could destroy the last legacies of the great Alchemist – the monkeys.

As he contemplated the destruction of his number one irritation, there was a pulse in the back of his mind. It thrummed, unnoticed in his thoughts, until finally, it grew to great to ignore. There was a loud drumming in his ears, thumping like the sound of a heartbeat. Allowing his eyes to close, he could see a green light – powerful and warm – pulsating. He could see a boy... a teenage boy, no older than thirteen. The green orb shifted slightly, moving towards the boy.

It stopped at chest height, right where a human's heart lay. Then it moved forwards, entering the raven-haired child. The green light slowly began to spread through him. First throughout his torso. Then his legs. Next was his arms. Lastly, his head. He glowed for a moment, the light still pulsating. The heartbeat kept steady, thrumming loudly in his ears, blocking out any other noise.

The light grew, taking shape. It twisted until it became a green gorilla, the boys sapphire eyes widening. They filled with white light, and the boy grew. He wasn't sure how old he was when he stopped aging. The gorilla-boy turned to face him, growling. He thought it was growling; he couldn't be sure. The heartbeat sped up, and the entity reached a hand out towards him. There was another flash of green light, and then his eyes shot open.

He was surprised to find that he was breathing heavily, his grip on the staff tightening to where he could have crushed through bone. It took a while before the beat faded from his ears. He reached out, summoning his crystal ball. That could not have been real, but he had to check, all the same. He first checked the Super Robot. The monkeys were there, awake. He knew they had been sleeping for years; why had they woken now?

He directed this question toward the ball. The images twisted for a moment, swirling into a multitude of colors. Then, they focused on a single image. The image of a young boy – the same boy from his vision – walking through the street, his hands in his pockets. He could already see the Power Primate taking root within him, and what remained of his heart – blackened and rotted as it was – constricted.

It had been real.

This boy could ultimately be his downfall; the Chosen One he had doubted. He had not believed such a thing could exist, but now? He stood right before him, oblivious to the power he could wield.

Skeleton King would not stand for such a thing. He could not stand for such a thing. The worst part was... throughout it all, the boy felt familiar. Like an old presence, long gone had come back to haunt him. The feeling was only strengthened over the next year or so. Every time he saw the boy; every time he watched the boy fighting, the familiarity increased. He knew him from somewhere; somewhere long ago.

It wasn't long before he finally gave into his curiosity.

When he did, it was as if he had been punched in the gut. He had traced the boy back to his mother which he then traced back to her mother, whom he recognized as an old date of his once-best-friend. Captain Shuggazoom. It was after he had disappeared that the young woman found out she was pregnant. She birthed a baby girl, who later went on to have a son.

It was that son that had awakened the monkeys. That son that had discovered the Power Primate.

Chiro.

…

The descendent of his best friend. The descendent of one of Shuggazoom's most celebrated heroes. The descendent of Clayton Carrington... Captain Shuggazoom.

He looked little like him, but he possessed some of the same traits. They both possessed a slight ego. They both a strong sense of self and duty. They both believed in justice and the greater good. He wondered if somewhere, the monkeys knew it too. He wondered, if perhaps they sensed the familiarity too? Could they remember? Did they understand who he was, somewhere, on a deeper level? Antauri, at least, had to feel it.

So when his followers questioned him; when they asked why he had not killed the boy... why he had not destroyed the simians... why he had not demolished the city... He did the only thing he could. He got angry. He questioned their loyalty. He told them there was a time and a place for such a thing; that destiny would come when it would come. The final battle would approach soon enough.

But the real reason? The reason he himself would never admit?

It was this cursed, blackened husk of a heart. The Dark One's energy had tainted him, given him a new sense of purpose... it had shown him the beauty of death and destruction... it had sent him on the path to greatness... but it had not managed to finally destroy his heart.

As long as the blasted thing still beat; as long as it still remained within him, he was doomed. It would be the thing that finally brought about his downfall.

He would lose. And somewhere within, he would rejoice.

Tauria: Um... yeah. So, as it states at the top – this is based off of Usami's one-shot Reminder. An extremely good read that doesn't take up much of your time; I highly recommend it. (I recommend any of Usami's SRMT work, actually. I might recommend more, but I haven't read what she/he has up for other fandoms.)

I really, really hope you enjoyed it. I had fun writing it, and the best part is that it all just kind of flowed out from my fingertips, you know? Unlike some of the problems I've been having with my chaptered stories. I would classify it as writer's block per se... more like my being overly critical of my work. I'll work around it eventually.

Anyways, I'm not really sure what else to say, other than I hope you enjoyed it... and to please leave a review, favorite... whatever suits you at the time :) I certainly won't complain – I don't review as often as I should, anymore.